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Circumstances of Disappearance
Jami met Steven Sherer in 1986. He had a prior criminal record for abusing and hospitalizing a previous girlfriend at the time. His file included documented threats, harassment complaints and restraining orders from the same woman. Jami's family and friends noticed an obvious change in her behavior after becoming romantically involved with Steven. They stated that she became withdrawn and dyed her hair blonde at his insistence, along with receiving breast implants. She was also fired from a job at that time due to poor attendance. All signs pointed to an abusive relationship and Jami's loved ones tried to convince her not to marry Steven. However, they wed in 1987. Their son was born in 1988.

By 1987, Steven had racked up more criminal charges on his record. He was convicted of choking and assaulting a police officer in a drunken rage. He was also treated for alcoholism. Steven had been labeled as a habitual offender by the late 1980's, mainly due to a string of theft convictions and traffic violations. Another troubling sign came in the form of Steven's consistent invitations to friends and his advertisements in adult magazines for group sexual activities with himself and his wife.

It is known that Jami was seeing another man who was a friend of Steven's at the time she disappeared.
Jami apparently had enough of Steven's abuse by September of 1990. The couple had been arguing for some time when she finally drove to her parents home nearby with their son on September 29, 1990. She told her parents that she intended to leave Steven the following day and planned to move into her parents house. Steven telephoned Jami later that evening and asked her to return to the couple's residence, she refused and informed him she wanted a divorce. According to Jami's mother, Steven did not accept that answer and pleaded with Jami to meet him the following day. She agreed to meet him outside of their home the next morning.

Jami phoned her mother shortly after 08:30 AM on September 30, 1990. She left their son in her parents care. She said that Steven grabbed her purse and ran off shortly after meeting him. Jami also said that she figured Steven was en route to the couple's home and she intended to go there to reclaim her purse. Jami called her parents again at approximately 11:45 AM that morning. She said that Steven was at their residence and she was heading back to her parents house after stopping for lunch at Taco Time, a fast food restaurant. Her mother told investigators that Jami did not seem to be distressed at the time of her final phone call. Jami has never been seen nor heard from again.

Steven called Jami's parents approximately 30 minutes after they last heard from their daughter. He asked to speak to his wife; after being informed she was not there, he telephoned them again 15 minutes later and again at 18:00. According to authorities, Steven was already informing his own family members that Jami was missing by this time. He arrived at Jami's parents home later that evening to collect their son, but returned three hours later. Jami's parents stated that Steven told them he was "too upset" to return to the couple's home for the night. They allowed him to stay at their home occasionally throughout the next week with their grandson.

Jami's 1980 Mazda RX7 was discovered as an abandoned vehicle in a church parking lot in Shoreline, Washington several days after her initial disappearance. Her purse was missing from the car. A suitcase with her clothing was located in the vehicle but her underwear was not included with her belongings. There was no trace of Jami at the scene.

Friends told police that Steven began acting very strangely immediately following Jami's disappearance. He frequented bars after his wife vanished and wore her panties tied around his arm. Steven also wore her necklace around his neck. He told friends the trinkets made him feel "closer to Jami."

Steven took over Jami's personal finances the week following her disappearance and cashed all of her assets out. His sister informed police that she had seen a "large red spot" on the carpet of Steven and Jami's home the week she went missing. Investigators found evidence that the carpet in question had been repeatedly steam cleaned and a new piece of carpet was placed on the floor. Witnesses stated that Steven hired a carpet cleaning service the week Jami disappeared. A friend claimed he saw a shovel in Steven's truck the day after Jami vanished, an object which had never previously been in the vehicle.

Steven reportedly asked his sister to arrange an appointment for him with a priest several years after his wife disappeared. According to his sister, Steven told her he had done something "bad" and wished to confess.

Steven has been under suspicion in Jami's case since the beginning of the investigation. He has denied any role in her disappearance and has insisted he is innocent.

Steven was found guilty of first degree murder in June 2000. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison. The verdict makes Sherer one of only a handful of people in Washington state history to be convicted of murder when a body has not been found.